First 'Christmas Honors' set Saturday at Oak Hill

The American Legion Siloam Post 29 is holding its first "Christmas Honors" event on Saturday at Oak Hill Cemetery, where community members are invited to attend and help lay wreaths on the more than 750 headstones of veterans buried in Siloam Springs.

The event was made possible through grants provided by La-Z-Boy and Walmart and will consist of a few different parts, said Marie Wilbanks, a coordinator for the event. The first part will take place from 9 to 11 a.m. and will be a time specifically for the families of veterans. A ceremony that is open to the public and free-of-charge will be held afterwards, followed by an opportunity for those who are interested to lay wreaths on the headstones of veterans' gravesites.

Community members are invited to the meeting room of John Brown University's Great Hall on Friday at 6 p.m. to volunteer to help prepare the wreaths, which will entail fluffing them out and putting ribbons on them, Wilbanks said. On Jan. 5, The American Legion is also asking for volunteers to help with removing the wreaths from the cemetery to put them in storage.

Saturday's event is something that has been in the works for a couple of years now, and is also something Post 29 hopes to do every year, Wilbanks said. The idea originated with a Fort Smith man who went to Arlington National Cemetery about 11 or 12 years ago and didn't think it was fair when he saw a significant number of headstones that didn't have wreaths on them simply because their rows were too far back.

Upon returning home, he began laying wreaths on headstones at the Fort Smith National Cemetery each year and has maintained that tradition ever since, with this year marking the 10th year, Wilbanks said. The desire to establish something similar in Siloam Springs has grown over the years, and this year it has come to fruition; Wilbanks also mentioned why the event is significant for her and her fellow veterans.

"The big thing with veterans is that we're always afraid that we will be forgotten, especially those who fought in wars before us," Wilbanks said. "So we want to celebrate those veterans and we want to really say thank you to the families, too, that shared those veterans with us. Without the family support behind them, they wouldn't have been able to do what they did. ... We would love for the public to come out and honor and support them."

Post 29 is accepting donations, which are tax-deductible and can be mailed to Siloam Post 29 Christmas Honors, P.O. Box 35, Siloam Springs, AR 72761. A receipt will be mailed to all donors. For questions or comments about Saturday's event or Post 29, call Marie Wilbanks at 850-520-0335.

General News on 12/12/2018